Smartphone App to 'ID' Fireballs

A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body traveling through space. Meteoroids are significantly smaller than asteroids and range in size from grains to 1 meter-wide objects. Most are fragments from comets or asteroids, while others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the Moon or Mars.The visible streak of light from space debris is the result of heat as it enters a planet's atmosphere and the trail of glowing particles that is shed in its wake is called a meteor, or in other words "shooting star" and "falling star".

Researchers have designed a smartphone app that sends back information to users about their meteor sightings.

The app called "fireballs" in the sky, was developed by a team at Curtin University in Australia. This app can inform users details on what created the fireball and where it came from in the solar system. It can be used anywhere in the world.
The app main purpose is to determine a trajectory of a meteor. For instance, you might get a message that the rock that made your fireball came from the outer asteroid belt, or that it was a chunk of a comet. User are asked to point at the sky where they think the fireball started and click on their phones. Then they asked to do the same for where they think it ended.

This app uses a phone's accelerometer, GPS and compass to provide data to sufficient quality that it could be used to create a crowd sourced smartphone fireball network. Essentially, members of the public can help track anything that's coming through the atmosphere.

To me this app launched will give a lot of opportunities for Grenadians who have dreams and desires of studying or flowing astrology. It will make more people involved in learning about outer space as well.

references: BBCnews.com